Tubular Bells II

slightly aged

For one summer, in 1993, I listened to this album religiously. It's an instrumental album, carrying the sonic motif familiar to anyone who's seen the Exorcist.

So, I slipped it back into rotation, to see if it was as good as I remembered.

For me, this album didn't ring true to my memories. I had remembered this album as inspiring, but now it seems entertaining, but also somewhat pretentious at times. Ah well...sometimes the memories matter more. May 30, 2008

Perhaps The Most Complete album

Celtic Music,West Music,Instrumental rock Music and others diferent styles in the pherphas most complete of Mike Olfield's albums.Pherphas The strongest song of the mike olfield's history is in this album(The Bell).
February 29, 2008

Return of the Bells

19 years after Mike Oldfield's groundbreaking and complex debut album he returned to drink from the well which had launched his career onto an unsuspecting public. It is easy to criticise Oldfield and record label Warners for the opportunism of this album, but one has to remember the difficulties Oldfield had endured through the late 1980's thanks to Virgin Records indifferent promotional attitude to his work. Pressured throughout the decade to follow "Tubular Bells" up Oldfield resisted Virgin's entreaty. That he eventually chose to record a follow up album for a new record label shows a clear attempt on Oldfield's part to stick two fingers up at Richard Branson et al, like "Tubular Bells" this album was an act of rebellious revenge.
Musically it is also very satisfying, polished and precise Oldfield has never struggled when it comes to producing memorable and often entrancing music. Warner's cleverly marketed the album at the emergent audience for "New Age" music that Enigma had established. The lead track "Sentinel" is a perfect evocation of Oldfield's multifarious thematic style. Certainly large swathes of the music use the "Tubular Bells" as a basis, but Oldfield often takes us on a journey heavenwards as the guitars soar and range. The major difference is the production. Trevor Horn brings a polished over produced sound that is at times clinical. The aggressive improvisation of "Tubular Bells" is not replicated and nor is the energy. Nevertheless on tracks such as "Weightless" and "Tattoo" Oldfield produces some of his most emotive and memorable music. This is an experiment that could have gone terribly wrong, but in fact it is an excellent nostalgic addition to Oldfield's fascinating body of work. January 23, 2007

Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don't close your mind!!

This is a fantastic musical sojourn that should not be viewed as a rehash of anything. Melodies abound. Listen and listen again.
I am a rocker and fingerstyle acoustic guitarist. Some new-age reviewers are sickeningly pompous as if their false elitism disallows recognition of good work. Again, listen to the music and enjoy. Mr. Oldfield takes us on journeys to places yet visited. Textures and virtuosity, interesting layers live here. Even the tinkling piano-based recurring theme from Bells 1 is different. If discerning reviewers cannot tell one from the other, I have some basement demos I will get to you. It must be lonely on that pedestal of vitriol. December 25, 2006

This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells

Now, I know everybody who likes Mike Oldfield is criticizing him for re-recording and re-packaging Tubular Bells over and over, and over again these past 30 plus years. But, if it wasn't for the 1992 release of Tubular Bells II, I would have probably just let myself forget all about him. I really didn't follow Mike Oldfield's music much after Crises (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). I didn't care for how Mike Oldfield was doing less long played projects and started to perform pop sounding ditties with other singers. Sometimes, you wouldn't know if you were listening to Mike Oldfield or ABBA, or just simply someone else. Simple pop songs like "Family Man", "To France", "Moonlight Shadow", etc. done with a female vocalist. And when I saw "Discovery" (1984) and seen that it had more short pop songs with vocals, I just sort of gave up on Mike Oldfield, altogether. So I think, TB II was a smart move for Mike Oldfield to re-introduce himself to the music world. "Tubular Bells" (1973) was considered a Progressive Rock achievement back then, and so TB II of 1992 had to compete with the modern day New Age music market. I don't think TB III was a great disappointment, and I certainly I won't give it a miss either. To see it performed live now (on his very hard to find PAL region only DVD release of "Tubular Bells II and III Live") actually makes me appreciate this album and that album so much more.

And why shouldn't Mike Oldfield try and keep Tubular Bells alive? When we go to see any singer or band in concert, we are usually not too concerned about hearing some of their new material. We want to see and hear the hits, or the pieces of music that are his claim to fame, of course. Especially from bands who's past is much more glorified than where they are today.

However, Mike Oldfield's recording of "Tubular Bells 2003" was just ridiculous! On this album, he is trying to re-record, as closely as possible, to the original 1973 release. This might have been more enjoyable if he and his other performers filmed this tight performance live before an audience. A DVD of this performance would have been much more justified than this pointless CD only release.

So, if he tries to re-record this album just once more, he really should seek some therapy. I think by now, he's beat this horse enough. Please Mike, give it a rest!
August 6, 2006

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